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Slaying homophobia on prime-time tv
by (me)
Some people may think that UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is just a bunch of attractive superheros and slain vampires. But the witty show is also about the slaying of other real-life demons, such as homophobia.
The character Tara was immediately mesmerized by Willow's presence, and Willow, who started to feel for this shy woman entering her life, wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. The chemistry was there from the moment they laid eyes on each other in the episode "Hush."
Their relationship grew slowly, showing Willow's development from when she first hid her new friend until she found the strength to accept and stand to her sexuality.
"I think the way Joss [Whedon, the show's creator] developed the relationship was so sweet and wonderful," said Alyson Hannigan, who portrays Willow, in a Cult Times interview. "When some reporters ask about us they go, 'Oooh! Lesbian affair!' but I say 'No! It's just two girls who are in love.'"
When finally told, Buffy et al reacted more or less shocked but accepting, a reaction not shared by everyone in the audience.
"There were just as many voices raised in support of the [lesbian relationship] arc as against," said Whedon at the 'Bronze,' Buffy's main posting board. "[But] one post from a gay or questioning teen saying the show helped them is worth six hundred hate letters."
Amber Benson, who plays Tara, agrees. "I get the most amazing letters from young women," she told Steppin' Out. "Many women write me and tell me that they feel it's okay to be gay just from watching my character on television."
Although both actresses' love interests are of the opposite sex, their long-time friendship gave them the level of comfort that enabled them to create the amazing on-screen chemistry between the characters. Thanks to the honesty and sensitivity of the portrayal of the relationship, Buffy's cutest couple – chosen 'Hit Couple 2001' by Soap Opera Weekly – is probably the first long-term (though momentarily crisis-shaken) lesbian relationship on prime-time tv.
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(There is also a picture, it is the picture from OMWF when they are in the Magic Box just before "Under your spell." The cutline under the picture is: 'Tara (left) under Willow’s spell.')
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Okay, nothing new for anyone here, I guess. But I was glad they gave me the space and even made space for a picture.
The newspaper is called Martlet and it is the student nespaper of the University of Victoria, BC, Canada (for which I regularly work as the copy editor and kept an eye on the article during production so that nobody 'corrects' an error into it, which happened to one of my articles before).
TW